Best Practice Municipal Waste Management

Best Practice Municipal Waste ManagementBest Practice Municipal Waste Management Information pool on approaches towards a sustainable design of municipal waste management and supporting technologies and equipment
TEXTE 40/2018
Best Practice Municipal Waste Management Information pool on approaches towards a sustainable design of municipal waste management and supporting technologies and equipment
by
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h. c. Bernd Bilitewski INTECUS Dresden GmbH, Dresden
Dipl. –Ing. Jörg Wagner INTECUS Dresden GmbH, Dresden
Dipl. –Ing. Jan Reichenbach ppa. INTECUS Dresden GmbH, Dresden
On behalf of the German Environment Agency
Imprint
/umweltbundesamt.de /umweltbundesamt
Study performed by: INTECUS Dresden GmbH – Abfallwirtschaft und umweltintegratives Management Pohlandstraße 17 01309 Dresden Study completed in: June 2017 Edited by: Section III 2.4 Waste Technology, Waste Technology Transfer Ralf Menzel Publication as pdf: http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen ISSN 1862-4804 Dessau-Roßlau, May 2018 The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the author(s).
Guiding principles for a sus-tainable resource and waste management and ways towards their implementation ................... 4
Horizontal framework of EU waste legislation ............................................... 7
Waste stream specific EU regulations ...... 11
Technology-related EU regulations (Waste treatment and disposal installations) ...... 16
Waste prevention ................................... 18
Options for the treatment of municipal waste .................................................... 29
Option 1 ............................................ 31
Application of waste treatment options in the local context .................................... 45
Financing of waste management and options for cost recovery ........................ 54
Collection, pick up, transfer and transportation of municipal solid waste .. 67
Roll-off container ................................ 72
Bags and sacks ................................... 86
Semitrailer truck with walking floor system ............................................. 112
Swap body system ............................ 115
Waste transfer station ....................... 119
Sorting of waste paper ...................... 131
Sorting of waste glass ....................... 138
Sorting of packaging waste ............... 143
Sorting of bulky waste ...................... 150
Organic waste composting ................ 155
Solar drying ...................................... 184
Industrial co-incineration .................. 188
Great combustion ............................. 194
Temporary waste storage and final disposal .............................................. 222
Temporary waste storage ................. 224
Landfill for non hazardous waste ...... 232
Landfill for hazardous waste ............. 238
Handling of specific waste streams ...... 244
Construction and demolition waste ... 246
End-of-life vehicles ........................... 252
Waste tyres ...................................... 257
Waste oil ......................................... 261
Lamps ............................................. 280
Waste of old paint and lacquers ........ 290
Waste carpets .................................. 292
Introduction
The need to curb natural resources depletion and climate change and secure a healthy living space for an ever growing human society has become a global chal- lenge which increases the demand to minimise waste generation and manage arising wastes effectively and sustainably on a worldwide scale. This task applies to all countries independently from their status of develop- ment. Many countries are therefore faced with the neces- sity to initiate a process of transformation from the con- ventional scheme of waste disposal through simple dumping or landfilling towards the gradual implementa- tion of a closed loop management of their wastes.
Germany went through this process during the last decades and has got a very high recognition for its achievements in adopting innovative solutions and im- plementing a modern, future-oriented waste manage- ment. There have rarely any technical, organisational or legal changes been made in the waste management of the country which didn’t at the same time prompt and accelerate the development of novel waste management solutions and technologies. Through this, all actors and stakeholders involved in the management of wastes have got an increasing expertise and been able to develop the necessary capabilities in order to stand the rising chal- lenges and requirements which they were exposed to with the new policy and the legal provisions that were adopted at the level of the European Union later on. A large spectrum of suitable measures and different type technical solutions for different types of problems and wastes could be developed and realised by them as a result.
German technology and equipment providers have become frontrunners in this way, a position that up to date not only relies on the very high degree of innova- tion, reliability and effectiveness their products incorpo- rate but also draws from the vast experiences they made during their application over many years now. Providers and users of the different solutions meanwhile know perfectly the requirements and conditions in order to have a certain measure or technology efficiently adopt- ed, the limitations that apply and how all this must be considered in order to establish an effective and well functioning waste management system.
Having recognised the serious challenges ahead and the need for better environmental protection in many countries all over the world, Germany has the commit- ment to support the transfer of suitable environmental protection technology and know how and promote the export of proven technologies in general and that of techniques and equipment to manage waste materials properly in particular. An essential part of this effort is to provide potential adopters state-of-the-art information about sustainable management practices, achievements as well as products and services that German companies are able to offer in this respect, may it be for waste col- lection, transportation, material processing or entire plant installations. This information pool offers a comprehen- sive nonetheless systematic overview on the approaches and techniques Germany successfully applied for waste management. It provides insights as to the possibilities of their application at home and abroad and facilitates convenient access to technical details, key figures and German technical providers and reference facilities.
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Guiding principles for a sus- tainable resource and waste management and ways towards their implementation Introduction
Wastes including such that are toxic and hazardous in nature are an inevitable consequence of today’s life styles and economic activities. In order to secure the ecological balance and an adequate living quality for our human society also in the future it is more than ever before necessary to manage these wastes, utilize them to the extent possible to save primary resources and where this is not feasible, to ensure a safe disposal. Simultane- ously our efforts must also be directed on preventing new waste emergence and thus reducing the needs for having waste treated. It is hence a great challenge for human society to combine the protection of the envi- ronment with the preservation of economic power and to guarantee a sustainable development in this way.
The European Community plays an essential role in the efforts for environmental protection and creation of a sustainable development, and is trying to take the posi- tion of a front runner in many areas and to set a good example for other regions in the world. The approach she has adopted for this is not essentially based on the prohibition of certain, environmental-damaging practices but reflects a policy that stems from the idea that strict environmental standards and norms would stimulate innovation and create new business opportunities in addition to pollution prevention and that it will be neces- sary to link all spheres of policy, i.e. economy, trade, social life and environmental protection in order to fa- cilitate this to happen.
The development of guiding principles and their ap- plication in all political and practical activities is an important process and delivers the basis for the formula- tion of an appropriate legislation. With regard to re- sources and waste management this process has got a vivid reflection in Environmental Action Plans and a number of coherent initiatives and strategies covering different sectors and issues of concern. Within these documents the precautionary principle1 and the polluter
1 The precautionary principle may be invoked where urgent measures are needed in the face of a possible danger to human, animal or plant health, or to protect the environment where
pays principle2 are taking firm positions as basic orienta- tions for environmental policy.
The application of these guiding principles for envi- ronmental policy shall make sure that the consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources does not go beyond the regeneration capacity of nature and our plan- et’s ability to accommodate future generations. Decou- pling economic growth and resource consumption, using available resources more efficiently and reducing the wastage of materials are the most prominent steps that shall be achieved. A European target with regard to waste is for example set with a reduction of the waste requiring final disposal by at least 50 % until the year 2050 from the level at the end of the last century.
The strategy that has explicitly been developed to support this goal aims further at a reduction of the envi- ronmental impacts of products over their entire life cy- cle, beginning from the extraction of the raw materials up to the moment where the generated product becomes a waste including its recycling. In that way waste is not any longer seen as a cause of environmental pollution only but also regarded a potential source for the raw materials needed. With this the management of waste takes the perspective of a substances flow and closed loop management with the main aims being the protec- tion of resources and sustainable living patterns.
It is quite clear therefore that landfilling is not any longer a viable solution and simply burning the waste is unsatisfactory due to the resulting emissions and highly concentrated, polluting residues. The far better solution is to prevent the generation of waste first of all, and next to this preparing the reuse of goods. Whenever these options do not exist the waste shall be reintroduced into the product cycle by a recycling of its components. The source separation of certain waste materials or a subse- quent segregation of materials for recycling or further
scientific data do not permit a complete evaluation of the risk. It may not be used as a pretext for protectionist measures 2 The Polluter Pays Principle implies that those who cause envi- ronmental damage should bear the costs of avoiding it or com- pensating for it. Therefore public financing of environmental policy is in most cases to be avoided, as it should be financed by the polluters themselves as far as they can be identified. In some cases the polluter may also be obliged to undertake investments to comply with the higher norms set. Producers may also be obliged to take back their products after use and take care for their recycling or safe disposal. Further possibilities are to tax practices which contribute to higher resources consumption or environmentally damaging products through special schemes. Producer and product responsibility are part of the polluter pays principle.
Guiding resource and waste management principles and ways towards their implementation
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utilization purposes have great meaning here.
The described ranking of priorities is based on the concept known as the waste hierarchy. European mem- ber states have agreed on this concept and adopted it as the basis for all legislative measures in the waste sector in addition to the other guiding principles mentioned earlier. The five step hierarchical perspective in EU waste management legislation demands any activity to be strictly oriented on that:
hazardous content in and the generation of waste out of products are prevented first of all,
products are given a second life before they be- come waste,
those amounts which do not suit for reuse are recycled, and
where this isn’t feasible treated to recover the energy they contain.
Only what remains after all above possibilities have been exhausted shall be safely disposed of on landfills.
A common orientation that consequently can be found in the environmental policy of EU coun- tries is:
to limit waste amounts and intensity;
to decouple waste generation from economic growth;
to promote the reuse, recycling and other forms of product utilization.
Under this premise, the waste hierarchy is not the hard-and-fast rule as it might seem, particularly since different waste treatment methods can have different impacts. However, the aim of moving towards a circular economy means moving up the hierarchy, away from landfills to more and more recycling. To give considera- tion on both, environmental impacts and the life-cycle of resources is at the core of an advanced waste manage- ment concept.
The solid building formed by European waste policy and legislative framework to enable the realization of such concept can be illustrated as in Figure 1. The over- arching framework is made up from regulations for an integrated environmental policy which influences and takes into consideration all spheres of human activities and well-being, and a coordinated framework law aimed at limiting the generation and hazardousness of waste and to ensure a safe, well controlled and organized han-
dling of waste in general (overall or horizontal waste management framework). A coordinated set of more detailed directives concerning waste treatment and dis- posal operations and to regulate the management of specific waste streams is complementing this building.
Figure 1: Basic structure of the EU’s legislative building for the management of waste
Within this set of directives, one can distinguish:
Directives which concern certain techniques and installations used for waste management (tech- nology-oriented directives),
Directives which concern certain priority waste streams and waste materials (waste stream- related directives) and
Directives pertaining to the supervision and mon- itoring of waste management.
(More details and links can be found in Table 1)
These directives provide the EU member states, in- cluding Germany, a legislative framework which must be filled from them individually with a corresponding set of national laws and measures. Giving respect to the specific conditions and goals of their country, local legis- lative bodies and authorities may formulate their own
Guiding resource and waste management principles and ways towards their implementation
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regulations in a way that local needs are being addressed without that European targets are compromised. The principles adopted and practiced by the European mem- ber states for waste management have therefore a gen- eral meaning and can serve at any place of the world as an orientation to achieve a sustainable development and realize a waste management that corresponds to the best practices exercised elsewhere.
Supporting documents for the practical implementa- tion and to understand better the norms and practices referred to in the European legislation have been provid- ed with the Best available techniques REFerence docu- ments (BREFs). BREFs should serve as a driver towards improved environmental performance across the Euro- pean Union.
BREFs do not prescribe techniques or emission limit values but contain a number of elements leading up to
the conclusions of what are considered to be "best avail- able techniques" (BAT) in a general sense for the sector concerned. The definition of BAT requires that the tech- nique is developed on a scale that allows implementation in the sector. The evidence to support a technique as BAT can come from one or more plants applying the technique somewhere in the world.
BREF – Waste Treatments Industries (de / en)
BREF – Waste Incineration (de / en)
BREF – Management of Tailings and Waste- Rock in Mining Activities (de / en)
BREF – Common Waste Water and Waste Gas Treatment/Management Systems in the Chemical Sector (en)
BREF – Slaughterhouses and Animal By- products Industries (de / en)
Table 1: Detailed overview on European framework documents and legislative acts for waste management
Horizontal waste framework of the EU
EU Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EG on waste) Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the Circular Economy COM(2015) 614 final
A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy COM (2011)0021 final General Union Environment Action Program to 2020 1386/2013/EU
Specific waste streams Supervision and monitoring Treatment and disposal
installations
End-of life vehicles (2000/53/EC) Waste electrical and electronic
equipment (2012/19/EU) Batteries and accumulators and
waste batteries and accumulators (2006/66/EC)
Disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (96/59/EC)
Protection of the environment when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (86/278/EEC)
Management of waste from extrac- tive industries (2006/21/EC)
Supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community (EC) Nr. 1013/2006
Supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel (2006/117/Euratom)
Landfill of waste (99/31/EC) Port reception facilities for ship-
generated waste and cargo resi- due (2000/59/EC)
Industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (2010/75/EU)
Horizontal framework of EU waste legislation
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Waste Shipment Regulation
Environmental Action Program
Waste Framework Directive
References OJ L 312/3, 22.11.2008 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:312:0003:0030:en:PDF
Main content / objective
Provides a framework for coordinating waste management in the Member States in order to limit the generation of waste and to optimize the organization of waste treatment and disposal.
Principal definitions
‘Waste‘ pursuant to Article 3 of the Waste Framework Directive is “any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard”. A ‘waste holder’ in this sense is „the waste producer or the natural or legal person who is in possession of the waste“. The Waste Framework Directive is further providing definitions for a multitude of subjects related to the various aspects of waste management and for creating consensus in view of the EU-wide communication on waste and a circular economy. These are for example definitions on what ‘collection‘, ‘separate collection ‘, ‘treatment‘, and ‘recovery‘ mean. Article 2 also excludes cer- tain substances, such as gaseous effluents or radioactive waste from the scope of the Directive, basically those are wastes regulated by separate Directives.
Key provisions obliges all holders of waste to deal with and dispose them in compliance with the stipu- lated framework and measures
lays down a priority order of what constitutes the best overall environmental option in waste legislation and policy by way of a five-stage hierarchy, with the ranking of options as follows:
1) prevention; 2) preparing for re-use; 3) recycling; 4) other recovery, e.g. energy recovery; and 5) disposal
demands the establishment of an adequate network of waste management installations in order to prevent illegal disposal practices and give waste holders the possibility to act in a compliant manner with above hierarchy and get the waste handled in accord- ance with the principles of proximity and self-sufficiency.
the efficient use of resources is to be promoted in that products shall be reused and waste materials provide the feedstock for production processes
Member States have to regularly elaborate waste management plans and develop waste prevention programmes
control over the undertakings that dispose of and utilise waste shall be exercised the costs of disposing of waste must be borne by the holder of waste (application of the
polluter pays principle).
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Waste Shipment Regulation Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste
References OJ L 190/1, 12.7.2006 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32006R1013&from=EN
Main content / objective
Predominant objective and component of this Regulation is the protection of the environment for which a system of supervision and control of all movements of waste within, into and out of the European Community has to be established and exercised.
Key provisions shipments of hazardous waste are to be reduced to a minimum, consistent with envi- ronmentally sound and efficient management of such waste
in the case of shipments of waste for disposal, the principles of proximity, priority for recovery and self-sufficiency at Community and national levels should be taken into ac- count
an integrated and adequate network of waste disposal installations shall be established in case of shipments of waste destined for recovery it shall be ensured that the waste
management facilities receiving this waste apply best available techniques waste from shipments which have been illegal or could not be completed as intended is
to be taken back to the country of dispatch and disposed of in an alternative way stipulates the possibilities for the shipment of waste as well as the conditions under
which the import/export of certain wastes in countries outside the EU are limited or for- bidden
sets up different categories of wastes and groups them in lists…